The Best Kind of Strange
by MeridianGrimm
Summary: Kid drags Hakuba away by hang glider when Snake threatens the no-one-gets-hurt policy at a heist, and the exchange that follows results in a new understanding between them. [Oneshot]


Disclaimer: I don't own DC or MK. Well, I know I said that The Hattori-Kudo Files case was next on my list, but this was sitting in my Fanfic folder about 80% finished, so I wanted to polish it off and post it before struggling through the latest H-K case. This is a boy-on-boy fic, so if that's not your cup of tea, then please don't respond negatively. I hope you like it; I thought it was cute.

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Hakuba Saguru's stomach dropped as the solidity of the roof fell away, but he gathered his thoughts enough to say, "Kid, who _are_ those people? Why are they shooting at you?" Gunshots still rang in the air and bullets whizzed by.

The phantom thief pulled out a serene expression as he leaned to change the hang glider's direction. _Fake smile,_ Saguru noted. "They're my tailors. They do so hate when I need new suits because my tricks have gotten messy."

"I'm not laughing."

Kid tightened his hold around Saguru's torso as a gust of wind swept them briefly off course. "When one dabbles on the darker side of the law, it tends to draw enemies and competitors. Not to worry, Tantei-san. They prefer the shadows, and the death of Hakuba-keibu's son would bring more attention than they are willing to deal with."

"They could still kill _you."_

"You can't kill a phantom," Kid replied affably, but a vulnerable look passed his eyes for just a moment, and Saguru saw it. Then the magician smiled slyly. "Nakamori-keibu has been trying for years."

Saguru was not to be distracted. "How long have those snipers been aiming for you?"

"Longer than you've been alive." Saguru processed that, and lined it up with one of his theories, that the eight-year gap in heists was a training period… because there was more than one Kid. It wasn't such an outrageous idea. Since no one knew Kid's true identity, and the new Kid would have studied the old one's methods, who would notice the difference? And what had happened to the previous Kid? Well, Saguru didn't know the answer to that yet, but he didn't think it was a voluntary retirement. If the original phantom had been crippled by the snipers, he could have taken on an apprentice, someone from the magician world. Someone like Kuroba Kaito. If Kid-the-First had died by a bullet, then someone could have found Kid's accoutrements and, for whatever reason, revived the infamous name. That was the stranger of the two theories: the original Kaitou Kid was mad enough to both invite the police to his heists and give back whatever he stole. The newcomer would need the same brand of insanity and lack of greed to continue in that pattern rather than pocket his acquisitions.

"Don't look so grim, Tantei-san." Saguru realized he hadn't spoken in several minutes. "Take a moment to relax and look around. How many chances do you get to fly like this?"

"Can't see much from this direction," he pointed out, nodding up at the triangular expanse of white above the two of them. That was partially a lie, though; clutching onto Kid as they soared away from the heist site and gunmen, Saguru got a pretty good look at the thief. _Definitely_ Kuroba. The position would have been uncomfortable if the detective's heart hadn't been stuttering from the intimacy of it. Kid had hooked Saguru up to his harness and launched the two of them off the roof so quickly that the detective hadn't gotten time to protest that he was basically hugging Kid and that his legs were wrapped around the thief's waist like a lover. It was frustrating, since Saguru couldn't imagine Kid looking romantically at one of his detectives. Blissful, because he was holding the man he'd come to Japan for and had eventually developed more than feelings of respect for. Mortifying, because despite being thirty stories up, they were still in a very public place. "If any of your rabid fangirls gets a photo of us like this, I will never hear the end of it. _Never_." The unspoken "_And I'll take it out on you_" hung in the air.

Kid grinned at the prospect of a humiliated Hakuba but replied, "I'd explain to the press that you were injured and that I brought you to a hospital because nobody gets hurt at a Kid heist."

"No one would believe that. There wouldn't be the medical records for it."

Kid laughed. "You think I can't make that happen, Hakuba-kun?"

"_Don't. _I won't have you breaking the law even more."

"Ah, my moral pillar. What would I do without you?"

"I shudder to think. Nakamori-keibu couldn't even get close to you if I wasn't around."

"You're close to me now," Kid responded, lowering his voice to a whisper. "What are you going to do?"

Saguru cleared his throat to begin a clever comeback, but his mouth decided it wasn't taking instructions from his brain tonight, and what he actually said was, "Whatever you'd least expect me to do." _What?_ Where had _that_ come from?

The comment, however unintentional, managed to wring a surprised look from the ever-prepared thief. "I wonder what you think I'd least expect," he mused. Saguru wondered too. Kid blinked down at him, waiting for Saguru to do something. The detective noticed Kid's eyelashes all of a sudden, as he had several times over their acquaintance; they were very long for a boy, dark, and pretty. Saguru was familiar with Kaito's eyes, breathtaking blue and deep enough to swim in. The magician's hair, which peeked out from underneath the white top hat, was in tune with his personality: untamable.

Saguru's mouth went dry. _Do I dare?_ This wasn't a position he was likely to be in again anytime soon. And he had the perfect excuse, because he _seriously_ doubted that Kid was expecting a gesture of affection…

He went for it. Stretching forward the dozen-ish centimeters between them, Saguru closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to Kid's. The phantom's lips were slightly chapped, but to the man who'd been daydreaming about this for months, they were perfect. One of his hands crept up to ruffle the ends of Kid's hair lovingly. In the background, Saguru's thought processes went something like: _I'm kissing the Kaitou Kid. Oh my _gods,_ Kaito's going to kill me on Monday. But I don't regret it. I refuse to._

Then, Kid started kissing back and Saguru revised his opinion about what reaction he'd get from Kaito the next time they were in school. Of course, Kid was the more adventuresome of the two and managed to get his tongue in Saguru's mouth before the detective knew what was going on. He wasn't complaining, though. It felt _strange,_ but he quickly decided it was the best kind of strange. Saguru immersed himself in the experience and pushed away dangerous thoughts of where else that tongue could go. Kid broke away from Saguru's lips and bit down on his neck, causing him to let out a little gasp. That prompted a chuckle that would have given the Kid Taskforce nightmares for months, and it sent a shiver up the detective's spine. Kid really seemed to like Saguru's collarbone, nipping it enthusiastically with his teeth. The detective in Saguru noticed that there was a pattern in the bites. "_Kid!_ Are you trying to leave your caricature on my –?"

_SLAM!_

The two were jerked apart as the hang glider bounced off the building it had crashed into, spiraling wildly. Kid muttered a series of creative obscenities about anatomically unlikely activities – making Saguru's eyebrows shoot up – as he tried to correct the glider's course away from the skyscraper. Saguru shifted as best he could to allow Kid to adjust, but that unbalanced the contraption even further.

"Don't move," Kid ordered, pushing the control bar away to slow them down. Saguru buried his face in Kid's shoulder, not for romantic reasons, but because he was sure that he'd get queasy if he saw the sky corkscrewing around them. He hadn't thought his adrenaline couldn't be running any higher after the sinister gunmen's tactics and that brilliant kiss, but the fear of imminent death-by-gravity pushed his adrenal gland to work harder than it ever had before.

"We'll be fine, Tantei-san," Kid crooned. The slight crack on "fine" was the only indication that Kid wasn't perfectly calm about the whole thing. "It's been a while since I flew into a building, but I know how to recover."

"You've never done it with two people, I'm assuming," Saguru muttered into the jacket.

"No, I haven't" Kid admitted cheerfully. "But now I can add it to my list of achievements for when I meet up with other phantom thieves for tea and cupcakes."

Saguru pulled back and looked the magician in the eyes. "Please tell me you're kidding about that."

"Of course. It's in my name, after all," Kid replied with a wink. "Usually when I work with other thieves it isn't voluntary; phantoms work alone. However, it wouldn't be entirely honest to say that I'm not on good terms with _any_ other thieves like me."

"Oh, there's no other thief like you," Saguru corrected, thinking of the riddles and the amazing improvisation and the return of all stolen items. That outrageous costume and those ridiculously complex disguises. The way he exposed other criminal activities. His ironclad assertion that no one would get hurt at a heist.

A few minutes passed before Saguru realized that they were flying smoothly again and that the magician hadn't responded to his last comment. "Kid?"

Kid's eyes were focused on the path of the hang glider. Feigning horror, he answered, "Don't say things like that when I'm flying, Tantei-san! It's not good for my focus."

"You know it was a compliment, right? You are perfectly unique."

"A gentleman detective should make his thief's heart race _only_ in the context of the chase."

Saguru blinked. "Do you mean that calling you one-of-a-kind was really that special?"

"It is the highest praise you could have given me, my tantei." Then the manic grin started to slip back onto his face. "Wasn't this fun?"

Saguru's mind lingered on that shared kiss, his legs reflexively tightening around the thief. "Yes it – wait, Kid, do you even remember _why_ we're flying like this in the first place? Because you were being _shot at?"_

"Oh, that. Like I've told you, it's normal. What _I'd_ like to talk about is the thing I least expected you to do."

Saguru fought to keep from flushing. "It definitely surprised you; that I'm sure of."

"Mm hmm. You got _very_ into it for someone who was supposedly just kissing me for the shock factor." A hint of smugness filtered into his smile. "Does my favorite detective have a crush?"

"Does that imply that I'm your favorite detective?"

"Someone's stall~ing."

For the first time in a long while, Saguru felt completely transparent. Might as well go for broke. "I do care for you. More than you could guess."

"Oh, good."

"_Excuse_ me?"

Kid's eyes lingered on Saguru before he focused forward on steering the glider. "I find you a fascinating puzzle and a good, friendly competitor. I'm quite relieved that you're open to the idea of being courted, though I'm sure I could have convinced you if it were otherwise."

"Courted?" Saguru repeated automatically.

"Courted. I believe it's my turn to do the pursuing." Saguru felt a mixture of pure delight and utter dread fill him as that familiar Kid grin made an appearance, mischievous as a trickster god and sharp enough to cut steel. He wasn't sure what expression his own face was showing, but Kid noticed it and added, "Don't get nervous, Hakuba-kun. I'm a gentleman. I'll behave."

An international thief wooing the detective who'd traveled halfway around the world to apprehend him. In a warped way, it was the perfect beginning to an association as strange and complex as theirs. Saguru's stomach flipped over for an entirely different reason this time. "Somehow, Kuroba-kun, I really rather doubt that."

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From Meri: Please review, even if it's just about one line you liked/disliked. Every bit of constructive criticism helps my writing!


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